Ted Cruz’s attempt to explain his Jan 6th “terrorists” remark
I’m pretty much onboard with what Andrea Widburg writes on the subject.
The New Neo
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I’m pretty much onboard with what Andrea Widburg writes on the subject.
from the article:
“We’ll never know whether Cruz was trying to protect himself from Democrat attacks or had lazily swung into what is, for him, a standard stump speech. I’m inclined to the latter point.”
I like Ted so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. But he should give up his hopes of becoming president. I think that will make him a more effective senator where he can do a lot of good.
The problem is he could have made the same point without helping to ‘preserve the narrative’. Call it a protest that got totally out of hand or even a riot if you want and I could at least accept that description.
https://jonathanturley.org/2022/01/07/preserve-the-narrative-the-public-rejects-the-insurrection-claim-in-new-polling/
Tucker is becoming the conscience of conservative Republicans. He has evolved a bit since his “Ship of Fools” book and is now more serious. He is also calling out RINOs. I subscribed to Fox Nation to watch his interviews. Other than that, I don’t watch Fox News. The only TV I ever watch is college football.
I saw the Carlson interview, and thought it was one of the lamest exhibitions since I last listened to a Democrat. And that was some time ago.
Cruz lost a lot of credibility. He needs to find a way to restore it. Or maybe he doesn’t care. The old, “if you can’t beat them…”.
1. The definition of terrorist is: “ a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.” I don’t understand why Ted Cruz calls people who murder cops ‘terrorists’.
2. I know that 1/6 is worse than 9/11 and 12/7 but is it worse than 3/1? By way of Mark Levin: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_United_States_Capitol_shooting
By the way, they were unrepentant and Jimmy Carter pardoned them.
Cruz will have to take his lumps, but I don’t see why a single remark, no matter how off-the-reservation, should affect his chances to be president or anything else.
Does anyone think he doesn’t sincerely believe the treatment of the protestors is an outrage?
Eva Marie:
Because some police have been murdered for political purposes.
Police being tools of the systemic racist society that oppresses blacks, and BIPOC, and LGBTQWERTY, and .. bullsh*t.
Cruz lost a lot of credibility with one remark. He lost even more with the sad, silly CYA/Explanatory interview with Tucker Carlson. His rationalization was lame. LAME.
And to think he was my choice, prior to Trump winning the nomination in 2016. I don’t know what he can do to earn my respect back.
om: I watched the clip again. This is what Ted Cruz said:
“For a decade I have referred to people who have violently assaulted police officers as terrorists.” He continued on talking about all the assaults on police officers across the country. Those are not terrorist acts. And I misheard. He said anyone who assaults a police officer – he calls a terrorist.
Eva Marie:
Well I guess we differ in specifics.
When Antifa/BLM in Portland specifically target city and Federal LEOs, are their (Antifa/BLM) statements and actions apolitical? Or just inconvienient and criminal?
Ted Cruz screwed up.
That doesn’t make Antifa’s/BLM’s violence with a political goal not terrorism. Antifa/BLM come after conservatives first and if local LEOs and DAs resist they’ve attack the LEOs.
Andrea Widburg writes, “Cruz also gave massive ammunition to leftists.” Ya think?
But I’m going to say (type!) this: Over the past year or three, I’ve viewed an awful lot of videos of Ted Cruz holding lefties’ feet to the fire, all very gratifying.
At least *someone*’s doing so — finally — although more recently we’ve also had people like Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz, and Candace Owens (appearing before Congress) and a few others joining in the festivities.
Ted Cruz is among the very best we’ve got, that dumb-ass remark notwithstanding. We’ve got to allow for at least a little slack in our purity tests.
He screwed up big time, and I don’t want to see it again. Butcha know what? I’ve had my screwups. I’m not proud of ’em. We can hardly do better than Cruz.
Maybe many of us might grant to Ted Cruz the slack so many grant(ed) to Donald Trump when he was often his own worst enemy.
Ted Cruz is positioning himself to be the new Jeb! That’s going to be as effective a campaign as John McCain’s was or as Jeb!’s was.
I believe that the ongoing grossly out of proportion politicization of January 6 and it’s essential demonization of anyone who supported Donald Trump, culminating in the ridiculous spectacle put on by the Dems and quislings Cheney and Kislinger, is absolutely offensive and disgusting. And frankly frightening, as it criminalizes the expression of dissent–but only for the “deplorables.”
I don’t think I am alone. The level of anger and disgust is very, very high. I think that the very idea that Cruz is either so clueless as to not understand this, or is playing the Democrat/Media game on this, is outrageous.
And I am/was a Cruz guy. But this was not just stupid, it was craven. I know that I am thoroughly sick of it, and I suspect that there are about 70 Million other people who feel the same way.
I disagree with Widburg, Ted Cruz is way too intelligent and adroit with words to flippantly use a word like, “terrorist,” especially on the Senate floor.
It was not a mistake. He had a reason. His is a brilliant legal mind. He would ever make a public statement in the Senate without working towards some goal or purpose. I have no idea whether it was for good or ill, but it was not unintentional.
From Andrea Widburg’s article: “But as Trump snapped back, while all people who physically attack the police are criminals, the January 6 people are not terrorists” (emphsis added).
It was Tucker Carlson who “snapped back,” not Donald Trump. Interesting slip.
Far better to make Cruz twist endlessly, gibbeted, in the wind as an object lesson to other ‘Conservatives’ about the non-trivial matter of picking a side and sticking with it. Too many trimmers and Vicars of Bray for too long with zero downsides for them. Losing the undoubted talents of a Cruz is a small price to pay pour encourager les autres.
The Right should run endless clips of Cruz saying what he said side-by-side with Ashley Babbitt being shot in the throat.
Of course, should he wish to redeem himself by a brave death on the barricades at a later date, all will be forgiven.
Good point MollyG: That fine forensic distinction has no Orange Man ring to it.
Z:
How do you as a non-US citizen, vote in Hong Kong for a Senator of Texas? Thanks for the advice on politics in the US, or not.
Generally in the US politicians aren’t treated in your preferred manner, in your old country maybe that was the routine?
Cheers.
Good Morning Om.
You have numerous ill-informed and pig-ignorant opinions about the Middle Kingdom.
It is a particularly American conceit to want to butt in to everyone else’s business all over this sorry planet… and since we’re all living in your world, you can hardly blame me for having learned to ape my betters.
Permit me to return the favour. It’s only good manners.
M. Beeblebrox, excellent allusion to the Vicar of Bray.
Both Hobbes and Locke were writing at the end of a long period—more than two centuries, stretching back beyond Bosworth Field—of civil war and dynastic instability. A repeating feature of these politico-religious struggles was tyranny in various forms, including judicial murder. The Vicar probably did well to keep his head down. This continued through the 18th Century whenever there were serious threats to the regime, though these were rare enough in England during the long, sunny Whig ascendancy. The American Revolutionaries and Founders were reading Locke in this context. The US Constitution was written to allow a national security establishment strong enough to contend in North America against European Empires, but without the capability of becoming a tyranny. The related purpose was to prevent civil war.
@Oblio:
” A repeating feature of these politico-religious struggles was tyranny in various forms, including judicial murder. The Vicar probably did well to keep his head down.”
Judicial Murder aplenty granted. Our imaginary Vicar might, however, have Learned to Code.
“The US Constitution was written to allow a national security establishment strong enough to contend in North America against European Empires, but without the capability of becoming a tyranny. The related purpose was to prevent civil war.”
Well that’s worked out really well! It did for a while, anyway.
My other allusion to Admiral Byng also has some bearing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Byng
Now *that* was an infamous and totally horridly unjust judicial murder… but it did do wonders for British Naval dominance in the years that followed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Byng
“Byng’s execution was satirised by Voltaire in his novel Candide. In Portsmouth, Candide witnesses the execution of an officer by firing squad and is told that “in this country, it is good to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others” (Dans ce pays-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres).[40]”
The Ruling Elite face zero consequences for malfeasance, incompetence, or even treachery today. The answer is self-evident.
Z: I am suggesting that tyranny and civil war are related, and have been more often in play than we would like to think in the political histories of even the most liberal parts of the world. In the less liberal parts, you get tyranny, genocide, war, and occasional civil war.
@Oblio:
Perhaps. I’m a misanthrope and see all of the above as possible everywhere and anywhere given sufficient time horizon and levels of technological development.
If you look, for example at the English Civil War and then the Glorious Revolution. The standard Whig View of History narrative is that these were both responses to Capital T Tyranny. Being a Rotten Reactionary, I disagree. The first was a bunch of crazy religious fanatics upsetting a relatively benign monarchy. The second was a bunch of city merchants and sanctimonious Main Chancers (aka Whigs) mounting a successful Insurrection (hehe) with substantial foreign assistance.
It’s hardly an original observation that the most obnoxious of the Puritans whom even the other Puritans could not stand decamped to the New World the rest is Theirstory 😀
I’ll gladly grant that a totalitarian government can more easily and rapidly engage in genocide than a liberal one. Is a liberal form of government even possible with global mass communication, bio weapons, female suffrage, and a bunch of other bits of modernity? Jury is still out on that.
“Jury is still out on that.”
Historical Truth Finding involves feeding humans into the gears of the Dialectical Engine. Which is lubricated by blood. Plenty of. Which may or may not water various sorts of trees. One variety of which is the Tree of Liberty. I can’t say exactly what kind of tree that is… but not Olive or Redwood for sure. Perhaps an Apple Tree. They don’t last all that long even if you don’t chop them down.
I supported Cruz before Trump won the nomination, and BTW thought Trump treated him badly. But now I wonder how much Cruz would have accomplished compared to Trump.
Cruz seems to always be trying to make the most eloquent speeches, while Trump cuts to the marrow. Cruz also seems to be quite the narcissist (like all or most politicians, including Trump).
I am not in Texas and haven’t followed Cruz closely since 2016, but am wondering if he is one who talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk much. Don’t recall how much private sector experience he has, besides working in his father’s computer business.
Sundance, who is Trump uber alles, posted that Cruz and Glenn Beck were passing out teddy bears to illegal alien kids on the border.
The mask just slipped off Cruz to show how Uniparty he is.
Consider his actions, or lack of on:
1. The “Potential” of an FBI Entrapment Operation causing Jan. 6th.
2. No questions of who is Ray Epps, Much less both Revolver Pieces
3. No action, not even words, on the political prisoners still in jail a year later, without trail, for Jan. 6th, much less how unconstitutional this is.
4. Any Senator could have stopped the Senate being in Session Pro Forma that required a unanimous decision, so Trump could have had recess appointments.
5. Cruz Wife is pure establishment, and even worked for Goldman Sachs.
Z blows more smoke, poor poor China, and where does China relate to Ted Cruz and Texas? That would be never and nowhere.
Okay, now about your other insights into US politics? Pound sand, eh.
But it is good that you have reestablished which country on this Earth is the threat to your rice bowl. Not the CCP, not Roosia, not Iran, not even Israel. That one country? The USA.
A peek behind the smoke. Xi pays you too much, you aren’t supposed to reveal that much.
Cheers, from not your country, the USA. Don’t forget to pound sand.
And Ted Cruz’s dog ate your homework, after marking Z’s rice bowl. That dog is not fit for eating!
Z: No doubt our Americans revolutionaries exaggerated the amount of Capital T Tyranny coming from the King-In-Parliament. And the Puritans seem to have been a whiny sort, even if eventually ferocious enough, both in the 1640’s and later. On the other hand, one should remember the Court of Star Chamber and its ultimate role informing the Bills of Rights.
We are engaged in the Rectification of Names. What is the limit of legitimate authority, so that where it ends, tyranny begins? What is the limit of legitimate protest? What does “insurrection” or “terrorism” mean?
Practically speaking, a government loses its authority when a material number of its subjects no longer accept the actions of its enforcers. In the American Revolution, that percentage is reckoned to have been 20 or 25 percent. Of course, the Crown didn’t have enough soldiers and its finances were in too much disarray to compel submission, with the results we know.
This is Hobbes territory. A government that cannot protect its subjects is in serious danger, especially if the government itself is the predatory threat.
@Oblio:
“We are engaged in the Rectification of Names.”
Yes. I rant about Confucius and the need for spades to be called spades every few months. Plus eternal vigilance about creeping semantic slippery sleights of hand.
Names can get corrupted both slowly and then all at once — like going Bankrupt in the Hemingway passage. Wokeness has gone exponential of late.
Plus Machiavellians have been known to mess with nomenclature:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhao_Gao#Calling_a_deer_a_horse
“A government that cannot protect its subjects is in serious danger, especially if the government itself is the predatory threat.”
Agreed. Limited predation can be tolerated. Taxation in the West long passed what was necessary for defence and maintaining the peace. But taking sadistic glee in abusing and torturing the general population is a step too far.
5. Cruz Wife is pure establishment, and even worked for Goldman Sachs.
Her upbringing was divided between her parents’ missionary stints and town in California with a population of about 40,000. Her father and brother are dentists. If I’m not mistaken, she’s a trust and investments maven and has never worked in New York. She doesn’t have anything to do with securities underwriting or proprietary trading or prime brokerage or the other lines of business peculiar to Wall Street firms. Regional and local banks all over the country have affiliated trust companies which employ people who do what she does. (I think it’s possible her clients get into futures-and-options trading, something clients of local trust officers seldom do).
She had patronage positions in the W Bush administration; so did her husband. Both she and he spent time in Ivy League institutions. Her husband was a partner at Jones, Day. Those are their establishment connections. It’s a passable wager that neither one of them would be welcome in the Ivy League today.
Like many other Texans, I supported Cruz strongly over Trump in the 2016 primary, and was very pleasantly surprised by the success of PDJT, enthusiastically supporting him in 2020. Alas!
I’m concerned that Cuz, who would be an excellent president, current screw-up notwithstanding, is not electable.
I’m beating the drum for Rand Paul in 2024- the most conservative electable candidate (Desantis would be great but he’s peaking too early).
Some relevant comments from Mark Steyn, another non-Yank observer:
“A few commenters responded […] that the week’s electronic delights would mean less writing from me. To be honest, I am having a hard time finding the right tone in print. Last week’s tour d’horizon of America at the end of 2021 was picked up by the one-and-only Instapundit Glenn Reynolds, and the comments below the post – from Glenn’s right-of-center readers – are instructive, boiling down to: Steyn’s a Canadian who doesn’t know America because he spends all his time in New York, and anyway his main expertise is in show tunes. The last of which is the same critique as that of Michael E Mann’s doting Mann-boys. As to the second, I haven’t been in NYC in two years, and, given that it’s now almost as long since I began calling the present crisis ‘The Permanent Emergency’, I strongly doubt I shall ever set foot there again.
But I get the gist: People don’t want an immigrant telling them that their country’s going down the toilet of history. Even if it is. Writing isn’t very satisfying if you can’t write about the biggest story, and alas the biggest story of our times is that, after half-a-millennium, the Euro-American geopolitical moment is heading off the cliff – mainly because of what the United States has chosen to do to itself while its enemies sit back and laugh their cheap Walmart socks off.
If you love America, you want Americans to be honest and urgent about the unprecedented debt, the humiliatingly lost wars, the world’s crappest and most insecure voting system, the folly of outsourcing the entirety of American manufacturing to a totalitarian dictatorship, the widespread rural despair that is lowering US male life expectancy through fentanyl and suicide, and the urban battlegrounds in which almost every city any foreigner has heard of (ie, not just New York) is being abandoned to dark and feral forces…”
[snip]
“At times like these, you want something more than just the pom-pom girls of Conservative Inc ‘owning the libs’ by pointing out the ‘hypocrisy’ of whatever Pelosi or AOC has done today. But nobody wants it from some ingrate downer immigrant.”
Ahem. That last bit ought to ring a familiar bell in these parts. Read the whole thing at https://www.steynonline.com/12025/the-mark-steyn-show-live-tonight.
I agree with Steyn’s description, in the immediate wake of January 6, of the U.S. capitol building as a “citadel of crap”. It didn’t used to be, but I’m afraid it is now. The moral of the story: D.C. is hopeless. If change is to come, it will have to come from the states. The Great Sorting is already underway. Indeed, some of the commenters on this forum are participants in it. It will be “interesting” to see how it plays out.
DeSantis 2024.
Hubert:
Mark Stein does not share many fundamental essential characteristics of Z’s more extreme positions, or haven’t you noticed?
the Hunger Games is not supposed to be a how to manual, but it’s taken as such,
where is steyn wrong about things, except for the free states like district 12, (florida) there are peacekeepers enforcing their edicts, the most extreme versions are seen in NY at a mcdonald, ‘we’re not at the netherlands, or australia yet,
so the delta house jamboree wasn’t much, chansley is the bluto of the bunch, he got nearly 4 years for what, ray epps wasn’t even arrested, much less imprisoned yet he encouraged the break in, the body count are approaching ‘boston massacre’ numbers when you add boyland and two others to ashley babbitt,
Om: I’ve noticed. In fact, I drew that distinction on a long-ago thread having to do with our friend in Hong Kong, his blind spots regarding the United States, and foreigners who comment on our affairs generally.
My implied point re: Steyn had to do with the flimsiness of the You’re-not-one-of-us-so-you-don’t-have-the-right-to-weigh-in-on-our-affairs argument. And the folly of shooting the messenger, no matter how unwelcome his message. Steyn may be a better messenger than Zaphod, but apparently he’s getting some of the same treatment. At least he can’t be criticized for not living here. He does, in New Hampshire. Conveniently close to the Canadian border. Can’t say I blame him, although the usual phrase about frying pan-fire comes to mind.
On our other topic:
You may have caught it, but I completely missed that James Hornfischer (“The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors” etc.) died last June:
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/austin-tx/james-hornfischer-10217895
Sad news.
a shame he was only 55, his book about the Solomon’s naval campaign, really made it come alive for me, as did his other work Ian Toll has a similar impact,
Some people are deeply in denial, I guess you can’t blame them up to a point,
“…especially if the government itself is the predatory threat.”
This is the crux of the matter.
The “Biden” administration is, however, not merely a—THE—“predatory threat”: it is in fact the terrorist faction.
“Biden” understands full well that “he” must wreak “his” destruction in a wide variety of areas and in manifold ways AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE so as to prevent “his” ultimate—well-formulated, explosively funded and criminally elaborate—plan from being stymied.
As such, the “Biden” administration, the politicized federal agencies, the corrupt media and infernally-driven info-tech are doing their very best to consistently distort reality, confuse—AND DEMORALIZE—the citizenry. They do this in order to effectively cover up their past, current and future-planned multifaceted assault on the country, its institutions and its people even as they forge full speed ahead to implement their plan to attain absolute power (meeting the occasional legal “road hump” but either ignoring it or trying to “drive” around it—ditto those “road humps” erected by sheer reality); all the while inverting the charge of sedition and insurrection, betrayal and treason against their political opponents…
Which is the salient hallmark of all tyrannies worthy of the name.
Hubert:
No I didn’t miss James Hornfischer’s untimely passing; brain tumor. Sad news indeed. cdrsalamander at https://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/ noted his passing as James had been a guest on a Midrats episode discussing “The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors.” “Neptune’s Inferno” is very good as well, RIP.
Om (and Miguel): I’m ashamed to say that those are still on my to-read list, along with S. E. Morison’s “Admiral of the Ocean Sea”, which I scored an original 1942 hardcover edition of (with dust cover!). Not the two-volume first edition, but close. Retirement can’t come soon enough.
Off topic or Nothing to See, Move Along:
https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2022/01/09/media-obscures-that-man-busted-with-explosive-near-jan-6-rally-had-antifa-gear-n503952
January 6, 2022 rally. Who are the insurrectionists and terrorists again?
While the legal perverts at the DOJ are still targeting parents….
“DOJ Refuses To Withdraw Memo Activating FBI Counterterrorism Division Against School Parents”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/doj-refuses-withdraw-memo-activating-fbi-counterterrorism-division-against-school-parents
Fox (and others) should lead with this every single day.
I’m concerned that Cuz, who would be an excellent president, current screw-up notwithstanding, is not electable.I’m beating the drum for Rand Paul in 2024- the most conservative electable candidate (Desantis would be great but he’s peaking too early).
‘So and so’s not electable’ is almost invariably a nonsense complaint, especially in this environment.
Rand Paul has agreeable properties, as does Cruz. What they lack is time in executive positions.
Our choices in federal elections are binary, except in odd loci. The Democratic Party is a criminal organization. Anyone who opposes the criminal enterprise is in our time worthy of consideration.
Basically we have two really horrible senators in Texas, both highly flawed Republicans. It’s going to be increasingly difficult for Texas to stay red with these two jokers on seat. John Cornyn is the worst example of a white-coiffed, country club McConnell RINO, voting along to get along, siding against constituents with every Big-Party, Big-Business Back-Room idea that rolls through the Beltway spewing money. His voting record is a disgrace to Texas, as is his two-faced style.
Cruz is over-eager, over-ambitious, over-smarmy, craven, and unpersonable. He has capabilities, a good intellect, but horrible political instincts; he can’t seem to help himself from routinely stepping on his…necktie.
The next election cycles for these two are going to be big challenges in this state, I think. I do believe that Cruz is capable of reforming himself though.
I’ve been following Ted Cruz since he beat RINO David Dewhurst. Ted was definitely not establishment when he beat out Rick Perry’s Lt. Gov. I voted for Ted in Texas’s 2016 primary over Trump and have said many times that the establishment was Never-Cruz before Never-Trump. My evidence for that is the establishment’s support of last place Catshit as the Hail Mary to beat Trump. Why support last place, when second place is viable? Because before Trump broke the unwritten political party rules of doing your time before jumping to the top spot, Ted Cruz did just that when he beat the parties pick David Dewhurst.
Cruz’s statement on Jan. 5th is consistent to similar statements regarding Jan. 6th that were made on his Verdict podcast. I subscribed to that podcast when Ted Cruz created it during the 1st Trump impeachment trial to explain the Republican position for not guilty. Ted Cruz was the only one to daily explain directly to constituents why Trump wasn’t guilty. He did so again during the 2nd trial, and Cruz was the only Senators that wanted to debate the election issues on Jan 6, 2021.
His statements on Jan 5th were beyond dumb. I agree with Tucker that Cruz’s statement were intentional, but had he talked to anyone outside DC, he would been told never to state something like that on the Senate floor. His argument that attacks on police is terrorism is also dumb. I cringed when he made similar statements on his podcast, so I finally unsubscribed. Those thinking of Cruz’s motive should realize he was turning his podcast into a major fundraising endeavor which was rivaling other major GOP PACs, but Cruz supported candidates like Lauren Boebert.
I won’t defend Cruz. However, as a voter for both Ted Cruz and Dan Crenshaw, I’m getting tired of the purist supporters. Ted Cruz doesn’t compare to John Cornyn, who manages the National Republican Senatorial Committee that most recently gave us Sen. Romney. And Crenshaw’s primary opponent from Louisiana isn’t a dumb idea against a Navy SEAL born and raised in Katy, TX. The purist rail about Cruz and Crenshaw not being pure and demand primaries, while drowning out discussions to get rid of long time establishment members, such as those that filled Trump’s cabinet and stabbed him in the back as the 2nd impeachment began. Yeah, both Cruz and Crenshaw said dumb things about Jan. 6th, but both voted against Impeachment and being guilty. 10 Republican Reps and 7 Republican Senators voted against Trump in the 2nd Impeachment trial. How about spending your time and money supporting their primary opponents? Then work on the GOP Congressional leadership that gave them cover? Let’s do that before going after those just 90% pure.
Leland:
Well stated.
I have Murray(D) and Cantwell(D)
in the Senate, King Jay(D) as a Governor, and Dan Newhouse(R-extinct) as my representative in the House. Newhouse(R) voted with Liz Chenney in the last impeachment, so he is dead (politically) to me.
IMO Texans wouldn’t be wise to oust Ted Cruz.
@ Leland – “Cruz’s statement on Jan. 5th is consistent to similar statements regarding Jan. 6th that were made on his Verdict podcast. I subscribed to that podcast when Ted Cruz created it during the 1st Trump impeachment trial to explain the Republican position for not guilty. Ted Cruz was the only one to daily explain directly to constituents why Trump wasn’t guilty. He did so again during the 2nd trial, and Cruz was the only Senators that wanted to debate the election issues on Jan 6, 2021.
His statements on Jan 5th were beyond dumb. I agree with Tucker that Cruz’s statement were intentional, but had he talked to anyone outside DC, he would been told never to state something like that on the Senate floor.”
I don’t think anyone is good at reading minds, especially those of DC politicians, and Rufus / Tucker are right about Cruz’s usually very precise rhetoric, but I believe that Andrea and Leland have the correct explanation: he was running his standard speech without considering that Democrats have totally weaponized the Sound Bite industry, and he gave them a doozy to work with.
That’s not excusable, but it should be forgivable.
@ om > “IMO Texans wouldn’t be wise to oust Ted Cruz.”
Agreed.
I don’t agree with everything Ted does, didn’t with Trump, or Bushes I and II, or even Reagan.
But you have to consider whether or not you can really get someone better before you put them out. Conservatives have been burned on that a lot.
Liz Cheney, on the other hand….
“The purist rail about Cruz and Crenshaw not being pure and demand primaries, while drowning out discussions to get rid of long time establishment members, such as those that filled Trump’s cabinet and stabbed him in the back as the 2nd impeachment began”
How many of those “purists” are FBI plants?
@ om > “January 6, 2022 rally. Who are the insurrectionists and terrorists again?”
At first, I thought this was about someone finally arresting the perps who planted the bombs at both party’s headquarters in DC on J6 2021.
My bad.
Apparently, the Associated Press is intent on obscuring the answer to your question.
Recall that the news-mongers have been so good at “clarification” that many people are still convinced that the people attacking Rittenhouse when he shot them were black.
Rod Dreher notes another trial:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/jill-su-life-mattered-critical-race-theory-murder/
Dayonte Resiles, a young Black man, murdered rich White Jill Su in her own house. 9 of 12 jurors wanted guilty of murder, 3 Black jurors refused to ruin a young man’s life by that guilty verdict, but would accept manslaughter. So the jury agreed.
Then the foreman, when asked if she accepted the verdict she had previously agreed to, said no. New trial.
CRT in action – young Black murderers get less sentences or not guilty, because of their race.
Social unJustice – tribal justice.
The US Democrats also use non-blind justice against Republicans. A 100,000 mostly peaceful protest against clear election irregularities that were NOT investigated well, plus some 500 (0.5%) activists at the Capitol trespassing even before Trump’s speech was over.
Dems lie about it being an insurrection, even tho none of the Trump supporters had guns. Yet only Trump supporters died, tho a Capitol Police officer did die soon after, from a heart attack. Democrats lied about that. They half-lie about Antifa / FBI agitators at Jan 6.
Cruz made a big miscalculation with his quote – tho if he calls all attacks on police “terrorism”, there’s some consistency to it. It’s unlikely another Rep would be overall better as a Senator. If Cruz runs for Pres. in 2024, because Trump chooses not to (my guess ~80% Trump runs), this might but probably won’t be decisive between him and DeSantis or whoever.
There’s also the possible calculation that the complaining about him by Rep purists is echoed some by the Dem media which means — free media. Had he not made that “mistake”, we wouldn’t be talking about HIM, Cruz. I’m only thinking this now as I write it – but it seems a plausible theory. Trump continues to suck a huge amount of air out of any Rep conversation.
I’m certain to vote for whichever is the Rep candidate in 2022 and 2024. This makes me like Cruz only a little less than before (I liked him 2016).